PC World (June 1983)

darth-azrael(73)

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_{Cover of the June 1983 issue of PC World}

PC World was one of the first and longest running magazines dedicated to the PC. It was also one of the best. The June 1983 issue includes:

State of the Art

2.00: The Path to UNIX - How DOS 2.00 made DOS a little more like XENIX, Microsoft's version of UNIX.

An Overview of the XT - The XT, which stands for eXTended, was IBM's second iteration of the PC. This article looks at the internal differences which include more slots, more RAM on the motherboard (256K vs. 64K though 128K was standard), a 10 Megabyte fixed disk (hard drive) with controller card, a larger power supply (130 watt), etc. Initially, an XT would set you back bout $5000. That would be the equivalent to $16,816 today. At least not everything has gotten more expensive...

Extending the XT - A look at some of the early 3rd party add-ons and other products for the XT including an updated Keynote keyboard enhancer utilities, JETDRIVE ramdrive software, JRAM 512K memory board, various storage options, and more.

The 68000 Sleeper - A look at the IBM 9000, another microcomputer from IBM. This one is based on the Motorola 68000 CPU and is designed as a data acquisition system for laboratory equipment. The system has a base 128K of RAM and is expandable with an additional 5MB. However, each 1 MB card costs $4080. Makes you feel like today's high RAM prices are a bargain.

Ma Bell's Favorite DOS - A detailed look at UNIX, its past and future.

_{Table of Contents from the June 1983 issue of PC World}

Departments

David Bunnell - A look at the first 7 years of personal computing and its imminent explosion in popularity.

REMark - The annoyance of copy protection and alternative approaches.

Letters - Letters from readers about ProKey, DOS 2.00, the first issue of PC World, special characters in WordStar, and more.

PC World View - IBM buys another 400,000 floppy drives from Tandon for PC XTs; Osbourne introduces second generation of its portable; IBM and Matsushita to work together to create products for Japanese market; IBM introduces 4-inch floppy; and more.

BBS Watch - The kinds of files you can find on a BBS along with details about ASCII and binary transfers, the XModem protocol, and more.

Just Announced - A quick look at new products including answerRAM (multifunction board that includes RAM, two serial ports, and one parallel port), the All Card (a board to facilitate multi-user functionality with Concurrent CP/M-86, CP/M-86, and DOS), the Micro-Floppydisk Drive System (an external unit with two 3-inch floppy drives), Transtar 20 monochrome monitor (connects via RCA jack), Juki Model 6100 daisy wheel printer, Toyocom Autodial 212AD modem, and more.

_{Table of Contents from the June 1983 issue of PC World (continued)}

Review

In This Corner...The TI Professional - An 8088 based PC that is about 10% cheaper that the IBM PC. It uses a slightly customized version of MS-DOS and is only somewhat PC compatible.

Data Management without Programming - A review of dBASE II from a beginner's point of view.

Torture Testing dBASE II - Comparing the performance of dBASE II on the PC vs. an IBM System 370.

Self-Training on the PC - A look at some tutorials designed to teach you how to use a PC including The Instructor, TV Tutor, and more.

Two Rooms, Ocean View - A look at The Landlord, software designed to help with property management.

Apartment for Rent - See Manager - A look at The Apartment House Manager, software designed specifically for managing apartments.

Brown Is Brown! - A look at the new IBM Color Display, the best color monitor for under $1000 ($680).

Hands On

MS-DOS 2.00: A Hands-On Tutorial - A detailed tutorial of MS-DOS 2.00 focusing on the differences from the previous versions.

The Apple-IBM Connection - Details on transferring files between the IBM PC and Apple II, including a look at some software that makes it a whole lot easier, The Apple-IBM Connection.

Building a BASIC Program - Steps for creating your own BASIC program.

How the PC Thinks - A look at stacks and passing data between assembly language and Pascal programs.

Around in Circles - A guide to creating circles and other graphics in BASIC.

Shuffles - BASIC programs that simulate rolling dice and shuffling cards.

BASIC 2.0 - A detailed look at the latest version of BASIC for the IBM PC.

Extended Disk Directory Program - A type in utility that will format disks to allow for extended directory info such as date of last update, number of sectors, etc.

Community

The Prophet from Xanadu - A definition of hypertext.

The Corporate Computer - How corporations are using the IBM PC.

Feuding to Do Business - The feud between computer retail stores and mail-order businesses.

X.T. Phone Home - Along with the XT, IBM introduces a compiled BASIC program that demonstrates the features of the PC and XT and a dealer only communications option that allows them to connect to IBM's internal data base via phone or modem.